Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #4: Capture the Flag

by John Vornholt

  Geordi and T’Lara jumped over the last row of boulders and almost fell into meeting of the Red team.

  Sidra Swan jumped to her feet. “Hey!” she yelled. “Stevens and Mirayo—after them!”

  Now Geordi and T’Lara were running for their lives, bounding like kangaroos over the rocks and bushes. He turned to see that the two Redshirts were closing fast behind them, running with powerful strides. T’Lara was far ahead. She was headed toward one of those weird archways. His communicator beeped. He tapped it but was too out of breath to say anything.

  “T’Lara here. Lead them under the archway. I will attend to them.”

  “Can’t …” he gasped, “sacrifice … yourself!”

  “I can,” she answered. “If you lead them under the archway, I will know that is your wish.”

  Geordi’s heart was pounding furiously and his legs were starting to give out. He had a choice—run under the arch and save himself, or let himself be captured and save T’Lara.

  His comm badge beeped again. “La Forge here,” he answered.

  “Captain, it’s Zemusta. They are attacking en masse! I count five of them, coming fast! I am falling back to our position. Out.”

  Wow! thought Geordi. After being taken by surprise, Swan apparently didn’t want to take any more chances. She was going for an all-out blitz!

  Star Trek: The Next Generation

  STARFLEET ACADEMY

  #1 Worf’s First Adventure

  #2 Line of Fire

  #3 Survival

  #4 Capture the Flag

  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

  #1 The Star Ghost

  #2 Stowaways

  Available from MINSTREL Books

  The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A MINSTREL PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  A Minstrel Book published by

  POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.

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  Copyright © 1994 by Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.

  STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures.

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  ISBN: 0-671-87998-7

  First Minstrel Books printing June 1994

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  A MINSTREL BOOK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

  Cover art by Catherine Huerta

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  For Sarah and Eric

  STARFLEET TIMELINE

  2264

  The launch of Captain James T. Kirk’s Five-year mission, U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701.

  2292

  Alliance between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire collapses.

  2293

  Colonel Worf, grandfather of Worf Rozhenko, defends Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy at their trial for the murder of Klingon chancellor Gorkon. Khitomer Peace Conference, Klingon Empire/Federation (Star Trek VI).

  2323

  Jean-Luc Picard enters Starfleet Academy’s standard four-year program.

  2328

  The Cardassian Empire annexes the Bajoran homeworld.

  2341

  Data enters Starfleet Academy.

  2342

  Beverly Crusher (née Howard) enters Starfleet Academy Medical School, an eight-year program.

  2346

  Romulan massacre of Klingon outpost on Khitomer.

  2351

  In orbit around Bajor, the Cardassians construct a space station that they will later abandon.

  2353

  William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge enter Starfleet Academy.

  2354

  Deanna Troi enters Starfleet Academy.

  2356

  Tasha Yar enters Starfleet Academy.

  2357

  Worf Rozhenko enters Starfleet Academy.

  2363

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command of U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.

  2367

  Wesley Crusher enters Starfleet Academy.

  An uneasy truce is signed between the Cardassians and the Federation.

  Borg attack at Wolf 359; First Officer Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko and his son, Jake, are among the survivors.

  U.S.S. Enterprise-D defeats the Borg vessel in orbit around Earth.

  2369

  Commander Benjamin Sisko assumes command of Deep Space Nine in orbit over Bajor.

  Source: Star Trek® Chronology / Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda

  CHAPTER

  1

  Starfleet Academy attracted only the best, the smartest, the most ambitious. They were young people who didn’t fear outer space or the unknown. They didn’t fear Romulans or Tholians. They wanted to command starships, space stations, planetary outposts, and have hundreds of people following their orders. Only failure at the Academy could stop them, and each cadet had his own secret fear about that.

  Some feared subjects like trigonometry, exo-zoology, or quantum physics. Others worried that their superiors and fellow cadets wouldn’t like them. Many feared that they wouldn’t be able to pilot the training ships. A few were secretly homesick and didn’t know whether they would be able to spend years away from home. Some feared that they just weren’t good enough.

  Cadet Geordi La Forge knew exactly what he feared the most:

  Gym class.

  Not that Geordi wasn’t athletic. He was short but muscular, and he enjoyed physical activity. But there was something about the competitive nature of gym class that bothered him. He was confident of his own abilities, but he knew he looked strange with a Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement, or VISOR, covering his eyes. The high-tech device allowed Geordi to “see” the full electromagnetic spectrum, from infra-red to ultraviolet. In the classroom or the flight simulator, it didn’t matter that he was blind. But in gym class it mattered.

  It mattered right now because two captains were choosing sides for a game of elimination. Geordi wanted to be chosen first, but he never was. They took one look at his VISOR and wondered what good a blind man would be in a fast-moving game, and they chose somebody else. It had always been that way, until people got to know him.

  But getting to know him wasn’t easy. Geordi wasn’t the outgoing type. He had only been at the Academy for three weeks, and he didn’t even know the names of many of his fellow cadets. He was there to work hard and study—to learn to be a Starfleet officer. Everything else was secondary.

  Still, it hurt when he was left at the end, after most of the thirty-two members of his gym class had been chosen. Glumly he looked at the unlucky ones who hadn’t been chosen yet.

  There was a chubby Tellarite, who snorted with his piglike snout whenever someone else was chosen. Beside him was a Vulcan female, who had to be the thinnest person Ge
ordi had ever seen. Another female was human but albino, and she looked as delicate as a porcelain sculpture. A small Saurian with purplish skin and reptilian features stood next in line. The last of the unchosen was a dark-skinned Neo-pygmy from Africa. He stretched on his toes like a bantam rooster.

  While the captains tried to make up their minds, the bunch of oddballs glanced at one another. Except for the Vulcan, their eyes betrayed the fact that they knew they were unwanted.

  “T’Lara,” said one of the captains.

  Geordi sighed. The skinny Vulcan cadet had been chosen ahead of him.

  “La Forge,” said the other captain.

  “Finally,” Geordi muttered. He ran to join his teammates on the south side of the gymnasium.

  A few seconds later everyone in the class had joined one of the teams. Geordi tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter in which order they were chosen, but it did matter. Everything at the Academy mattered. It was only his first year, but he knew the instructors were taking notes and looking for leadership qualities. How could you be a leader if you were always chosen last?

  He stood stiffly at attention in his white shirt and gym shorts while the instructor, Lieutenant Emma Pantano, explained the rules.

  “I’m sure most of you have played elimination before,” she began, “but I’ll go over the rules. Each team must remain behind their white line. We have three soft inflatable balls, and the object is to throw a ball at the opposing team and hit one of the opposing players. You can avoid being hit either by dodging the ball or catching it in the air. Once a thrown ball hits the floor or the wall, it’s a loose ball and is safe to go after.

  “Sensors will determine if you’ve been hit, and the computer will announce your name. If you are hit, you are eliminated and must go to the bleachers. When all the players on one team are eliminated, the other team has won. Are there any questions?”

  How could there be any questions? thought Geordi. It was the simplest game he’d ever heard of. Yet it tested their survival instincts, physical skills, and teamwork abilities. He looked around the gymnasium and could see the hidden sensors through his VISOR. He knew they were recording video logs of the gym class. But he didn’t know who would be watching those video logs.

  That was the most nerve-racking part of Starfleet Academy—the idea that you were always being watched and evaluated. Being blind, he came in with one strike against him, but he knew he had to put that out of his mind. Just do the best you can, Geordi told himself. They can’t expect more from you than that.

  The computer sounded a loud tone, and the game began. Geordi had always been good at blending into the background, not standing out, making himself almost invisible. It was a trait he had to avoid in his classes at the Academy, but it served him well in this game. Plus, he had been one of the last chosen, and they didn’t consider him much of a threat.

  The other side had several strong players, and they hurled the inflatable balls with such force that there was no way to avoid them—unless you were almost invisible. Three of his sixteen teammates were hit in the first volley.

  “Mirayo, out,” said the computer. “Takama, out. Swan, out.”

  Geordi didn’t go after any of the balls that flew past him. His instincts were centered on survival. He let the captain of his team and the more aggressive players go after the loose balls. One of his teammates, a tall Andorian with blue skin and antennae sticking out of his white hair, grabbed a ball and threw it with a loud grunt. It hit a young man on the opposing team so hard that he sprawled onto his back.

  “Stevens, out,” announced the computer.

  The action was furious. Geordi watched the Andorian move closer to the line so that he could catch the balls and throw them back quickly. That isn’t going to last long, thought Geordi. Sure enough, the opposing team began to horde the balls until they had all three of them in their possession.

  Their captain, a blond-haired human named Pettey, pointed to the Andorian and said something to his teammates. The three of them threw their balls at once. The Andorian caught one ball, one sailed over his head, but the other one struck him in the leg.

  “Altos, out,” intoned the computer.

  His head hung low, the Andorian marched toward the bleachers. Geordi noted that the one who had hit him was the skinny Vulcan, T’Lara.

  Half of the players on both sides had been eliminated, and Geordi hadn’t touched a single ball. It was time to take an active part in the contest, especially if the opposition was going to target them individually. He grabbed a loose ball just as a second ball zipped over his shoulder. It was the closest he had come to being hit.

  On the other side Pettey was beginning to sense victory. He edged closer to the line to catch the balls as they flew across. Geordi had been watching the big human, and he knew that he was the key to the other side’s victory. With his great reflexes, how could they hit him?

  One of his teammates grabbed a ball, and Geordi pointed toward the Vulcan. They hurled their balls in unison, and Geordi’s ball hit her on the ankle.

  “T’Lara, out,” said the computer. She showed no emotion as she strode toward the bleachers and took a seat.

  But Pettey looked angry. He had a ball in one hand, and he pointed with his other hand at Geordi, as if he were going out next. He aimed low, and Geordi leapt over the ball to escape it. The ball banged off the wall behind him and bounced back to Pettey.

  “Derlenger, out,” said the computer. “Craycroft, out.”

  Geordi looked around and saw that he only had three teammates left—a stocky dark-haired young woman, a nimble Delosian, and the little Saurian. The other side had six players left. Worse, Pettey’s team had control of the balls and were standing at the line and throwing them at will. They flung the balls with such force that they bounced back even if they didn’t hit anyone. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

  Geordi was getting winded from bouncing around to avoid the balls. If only we could get control of the balls, he thought, then we could stand at the line and shoot fish in a barrel.

  He turned to his three teammates and barked out an order, “Catch those balls!”

  They nodded in agreement. They were all getting tired of jumping around like frightened jackrabbits. When the next volley came, they didn’t jump but stood their ground. Geordi watched the ball zoom into his stomach—it knocked him off his feet, but he held on. The stocky young woman also caught a ball. The Delosian lunged for one but missed. He got hit, but the little Saurian reacted quickly and grabbed the loose ball.

  “Gogarty, out,” said the computer.

  They were down to three, but each of the three had a ball in his hand. They walked calmly to the line, and Pettey and his teammates beat a hasty retreat to the far wall. Geordi knew exactly what he wanted to do next.

  “Get Pettey,” he whispered. The young woman and the Saurian nodded.

  They hurled their balls in unison, and the big blond-haired kid didn’t have a chance.

  “Pettey, out,” remarked the computer.

  Pettey scowled at Geordi as he walked off the floor. He kept staring at the young cadet from the bleachers.

  With their leader gone, the other team lost its confidence. Geordi and his teammates were able to stay at the line and pick them off one by one. It was the strong dark-haired woman who got the last one.

  “All right!” she cheered. She clasped Geordi’s hand and shook it, but he only smiled. The Saurian gave him a twisted grin.

  Maybe next time they won’t choose me last.

  Emma Pantano strode to the center of the floor. The middle-aged gym instructor was also smiling. “That was one of the best games of elimination I’ve ever seen. We’re going to end a little early today because I have an announcement to make. Please take your showers, get dressed, and report back here in ten minutes.”

  “What’s that all about?” Geordi heard someone say. There was a lot of talk as they headed for the locker rooms, but nobody seemed to know what the announc
ement was going to be about.

  Geordi found himself walking beside Pettey. It didn’t seem like an accident.

  “You got lucky,” Pettey grumbled.

  “Maybe,” answered Geordi. He looked up at the handsome cadet, who was a head taller than he.

  “Next time,” said Pettey, “I’ll take you out first.”

  The big cadet shouldered past him and charged out the door. Geordi could only shake his head.

  “Blowhard,” said a female voice. Geordi turned to see the dark-haired cadet who had helped him win the game. “If you hadn’t given that order, we would have been goners.”

  Geordi shrugged. “You played the whole game—I was only playing hard at the end.”

  “Still, it was a good thing you were there at the end. Good game!” She slapped him on the back so hard she nearly knocked his VISOR off. Then she headed toward the women’s locker room.

  The chubby Tellarite stood in the automatic doorway, keeping it open for Geordi. “Excellent game,” he said. “We were proud of you.”

  Geordi knew who the “we” were—all the other cadets who got chosen last. That saddened him for a moment. No matter how many games he won, he would never be like Cadet Pettey.

  “Thanks,” was all he could think to say.

  After they showered and changed into their cadet uniforms, the gym class assembled back in the gymnasium. They sat patiently on the bleachers, waiting for Lieutenant Pantano to return. When she did, Captain Joe McKersie, the flight instructor, was with her.

  “Next week’s gym class is going to be rather unusual,” said Pantano. “As some of you may know, Captain McKersie is leading a training mission for upperclassmen next week. What you didn’t know is that you’re going on that training mission.”

  There was excited murmuring in the bleachers, and Captain McKersie held up his hand to quiet them.

  “You should know that you’re going as passengers,” he added. “Every year Lieutenant Pantano selects her best first-year gym class for this honor. While we conduct our training, you’ll be let off on the planet of Saffair, where you’ll conduct three days of wilderness and combat training.”